With intense rivalries between Brighton, Hartland and Howell already in Livingston County, it makes sense for Fowlerville and Pinckney, two similar sized Livingston County schools to resume their own rivalry which has been on hiatus since the 2020 season.
Friday night saw that rivalry renewed albeit for just one season as the Gladiators defeated Pinckney 21-13 on senior night for Fowlerville.
“With the new SEC schedule in 2027, our (Pinckney) week eight is not available for the second game of the contract. Both Fowlerville and Pinckney are locked into Week 1 and Week 9 games in 2027. Hopefully we can work something out in 2028," Pinckney Athletic Director Matt Seidl said.
This year’s game left a lot of opportunities for both squads as penalties and turnovers were not in short supply.
Fowlerville started their first possession at their own 30-yard line and in six plays with Gavin Rager and Kellen Douglass alternating as ball carriers. Douglass was able to punch it across from 9-yards out for the first of his two touchdowns on the night.
A Pinckney personal foul on the touchdown left the Fowlerville coaching staff with an interesting decision. They could take the 15-yard penalty on the kickoff, or they could take half the distance to the goal on the extra point, giving them one play to pick up the PAT from the one-yard line. The Gladiators took the penalty on the extra point and converted, putting them up 8-0 in the first quarter.
The remainder of the first half saw three punts, two interceptions and one turnover on downs, sending Fowlerville to the locker room 8-0.
“It is tough to do with the turnovers that happened and then the penalties. We have been harping on them about penalties and a lot of them are just so close, they are calling holding where the kids are keeping their hands on a little too long and we have to fix it this week because we are not going to win if we continue to do that,” coach Zach Douglass said.
The third quarter was shades of the first half as neither team was able to keep a drive sustained. Fowlerville lost two fumbles and Pinckney again turned the ball over on downs.
After the second Fowlerville fumble, Pinckney managed to put a sustained drive together capping it off with a Jax Raymond to Brendan Shafer 5-yard touchdown pass with 9:57 left in the game to bring the Pirates to within two-points. Pinckney could not convert the two-point conversion.
Fowlerville took the ensuing kickoff and put together their first effective drive since the first quarter leaning heavily on the legs of Douglass who finished the drive from three yards out with 2:16 left in the game. The Gladiators attempted another two-point conversion but failed leaving the Pirates within striking distance at 14-6.
Pinckney started their next drive with good field position at their own 38-yard line, but Fowlerville’s Logan Demko anticipated a Jax Raymond pass perfectly taking it to the house with 1:55 left in the game and putting the Glads up 21-6.
Douglass on the impact of the interception, “The pick six, Logan Demko read it. It was good to have that, but we also played every kid out on the field after that so, it was good to have it, but it was pretty much done before that.”3
Demko also talked about the play afterwards, “We were in a zone where I had to sit in the flat. I had to trust my guy overtop, I saw the quarterback pull the pin and the rest is history.”
With Fowlerville emptying their bench, Pinckney was able to cut the Gladiator lead to 21-13 on a six-yard Raymond pass to Luis Schwarz but the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Fowlerville, the Gladiators were able to run out the clock for the victory.
Talking about his interception and the win, Demko talked about the future some and how he wanted to be seen, “It means everything to me. This junior class means a lot to me I have a lot of friends in the class and we need to leave a legacy behind and get as many wins on the board as possible.”
Both teams will conclude their seasons next week as 3-5 Fowlerville will travel to Charlotte and 2-6 Pinckney will host Ida.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Fowlerville football holds off Pinckney as rivalry gets one-season renewal